"I do something I want even if I know I don't have the money. I don't see why I shouldn't buy a sweater or go out with friends." That's 23-year old Crystal talking, and she and her 25-year old husband Jeremy are $25,000 in debt.
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"I do something I want even if I know I don't have the money. I don't see why I shouldn't buy a sweater or go out with friends." That's 23-year old Crystal talking, and she and her 25-year old husband Jeremy are $25,000 in debt.
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Consumers are increasingly defaulting on their credit card balances and banks are suffering because of the massive debt write offs due to the defaults. To remedy the situation, an alliance of financial industry interests and consumer advocates proposed a special program to the government. As legislative director for Consumer Federation Travis Plunkett says, "In this case we have a clear common interest."
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It may not feel natural to be transparent about your finances, but five Vancouver women have shown that being honest with others about your financial situation can make you feel more accountable for it. The Smart Cookies money club started as a group of women conversing about personal money issues and the lessons learned from their time together have been turned into a book, The Smart Cookies’ Guide to Making More Dough.
Andrea Baxter gathered four other women together to form the money club in 2006 after she'd accumulated $18,000 in debt beyond her mortgage, and in two and a half years the five members have helped get everyone on track and keep them there.
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Forty-seven percent of you have credit card debt, and another 12 percent of you are almost finished paying off your balances — keep plugging away! It's common to lose momentum in becoming financially healthy once you are rid of debt; enjoy the feeling of having a huge weight lifted from your shoulders, but avoid the temptation to relax your rein on spending.
Hopefully you were able to put some money aside while paying off your credit cards, but when you're done with your debt, turn your main focus to saving and building an emergency fund.
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The years of consumer excess have finally begun to take their toll on retailers — they constantly asked people to sign up for credit cards in exchange for discounts, and now that strategy is backfiring as consumers struggle to pay back their debt. Hopefully those of you that are carrying store credit cards in your wallets are not part of the growing population that are falling behind on their store credit card bills.
Stores like Target, Home Depot, and Macy's are caught in a bad place going into the holiday season.
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This episode of Maxed Out is about Alicia, a 30-year old woman who works in advertising and has trapped herself in a pattern of binge spending. A couple years ago she was $20,000 in debt and got a consolidation loan she got to help her pay it off. After paying down about $10,000, she started using credit cards again and increased her debt load to $20,000 once again.
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Credit card habits vary from person to person — some people touch their credit cards only a couple times a year to keep them active, others use them more frequently to take advantage of rewards but pay off the balances each month, some only use their cards for large purchases like plane tickets, and others rely on credit cards to cover everyday expenses.
The last time I used my credit card I charged two round-trip tickets to NYC, but was fortunately able to pay off the balance without incurring any interest. What was the last thing you charged to your card?
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Dear Savvy,
Is it a good idea to cancel a credit card you are paying off instead of waiting until you pay it off entirely?
A: No, you need to keep a card open until the balance has been paid off completely. After your balance is zeroed out, call the issuer and ask for your card to be canceled with a note to the credit bureaus that the account was "closed at customer's request."
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Fifty-four percent of you are carrying a credit card balance, and many of you currently not carrying credit card debt may have been in the red at some point. What pushed you in to debt: Was it a shopping habit, paying bills when you didn't have a job, parking tickets, furniture, or a combination of other things?
Source
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When you consider taking out a loan or borrowing money by using your credit card, think about personal finance guru M.P. Dunleavey's powerful debt math. She estimates that it takes $16,400 in income to pay off a $10,000 loan at 15 percent interest.
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